Strategy

DRAFT

The Lunar Spatial Data Infrastructure (SDI) seeks to support discovery and delivery of readily usable lunar data to users across the international lunar exploration community which includes government space agencies, commercial interests, the science community, and the general public. This Strategic Plan contains a high-level overview of the background, guiding principles, and philosophy of the Lunar SDI Working Group and describes the primary strategic objectives from 2022 to 2025. This document includes specific deliverables and action items, with a recommended timeline, to advance each of the strategic objectives.

The Lunar Spatial Data Infrastructure Working Group is a voluntary cooperation between members of the lunar exploration community to enhance the usefulness of spatial data by recommending best practices related to standards that best meet the use needs of the Lunar community. The Lunar SDI is endorsed by the NASA-directed Mapping and Planetary Spatial Infrastructure Team (MAPSIT). A spatial data infrastructure (SDI) is the enabling collection of spatial data users, data interoperability agreements, policies and standards, data access mechanisms, and the spatial data themselves ( Citation: Rajabifard, Feeney & al., 2002 Rajabifard, A., Feeney, M. & Williamson, I. (2002). Future directions for SDI development. International Journal of Applied Earth Observation and Geoinformation, 4(1). 11 – 22. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/S0303-2434(02)00002-8 ) . The overarching goal of the Lunar SDI is to allow individuals that are not spatial data experts to use spatial data to the greatest extent possible, with the lowest possible overhead ( Citation: Laura, Bland & al., 2018 Laura, J., Bland, M., Fergason, R., Hare, T. & Archinal, B. (2018). Framework for the Development of Planetary Spatial Data Infrastructures: A Europa Case Study. Earth and Space Science, 5(9). 486–502. https://doi.org/10.1029/2018EA000411 ) . This working group will address complexities by suggesting policies and standards that will be applicable to this Lunar SDI regarding data interoperability, data contribution, and the long-term maintenance for the benefit of all user communities.

The recommendations made for the Lunar SDI consider the diverse groups interested in accessing high-quality and processed data. Traditionally the focus has been on scientific space missions and associated scientists funded by government agencies from a few countries with some consideration for aiding educational groups. However, lunar exploration now includes major contributions from many nations and private industry. It is also of interest to a wide range of the public, including those with interests beyond scientific exploration. Understanding this diversity of long-term stakeholders, the Lunar SDI strategy incrementally expands from the traditional users to serve the larger community of users and stakeholders. The Lunar SDI aims to improve the infrastructure for public access to and distribution of geospatial planetary data and help ensure that it is Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable (FAIR; ( Citation: Wilkinson, Dumontier & al., 2016315 Wilkinson, M., Dumontier, M., Aalbersberg, I., Appleton, G., Axton, M., Baak, A., Blomberg, N., Boiten, J., Silva Santos, L., Bourne, P., Bouwman, J., Brookes, A., Clark, T., Crosas, M., Dillo, I., Dumon, O., Edmunds, S., Evelo, C., Finkers, R., Gonzalez-Beltran, A., Gray, A., Groth, P., Goble, C., Grethe, J., Heringa, J., Hoen, P., Hooft, R., Kuhn, T., Kok, R., Kok, J., Lusher, S., Martone, M., Mons, A., Packer, A., Persson, B., Rocca-Serra, P., Roos, M., Schaik, R., Sansone, S., Schultes, E., Sengstag, T., Slater, T., Strawn, G., Swertz, M., Thompson, M., Lei, J., Mulligen, E., Velterop, J., Waagmeester, A., Wittenburg, P., Wolstencroft, K., Zhao, J. & Mons, B. (2016, 3, 15). The FAIR Guiding Principles for scientific data management and stewardship. Scientific Data, 3(1). 160018. https://doi.org/10.1038/sdata.2016.18 ) ). The desired aim is the development of a clearinghouse where data in a standardized format can be shared, duplication reduced, and community needs prioritized. In the context of the Lunar SDI, a data clearinghouse is a distributed system of data servers and services which have standardized metadata to facilitate data interoperability. The clearinghouse is a single access location that uses web standards to support discoverability of Analysis Ready Data (ARD). This working group will also help to ensure that valuable information is preserved for posterity in a way that is discoverable, has a high degree of usability, and can foster innovation and experimentation even while missions are actively collecting data (c.f. Planetary Data Ecosystem IRB Report).

An SDI is one portion of the Planetary Data Ecosystem (PDE). It is complementary to the Planetary Data System (PDS) and other similar archives (e.g., ESA’s PSA) but serves a distinct need in the planetary community. An SDI does not in any way replace the critical need for archives to ensure that lunar data are preserved in perpetuity. Instead, the Lunar SDI working group aims to provide additional functionality, access, and services for Lunar data that are built upon the important foundation the PDS provides ( Citation: Laura, Phillips & al., 2022 Laura, J., Phillips, C., Beyer, R., Bland, M., Fergason, R., Hare, T. & Schenk, P. (2022). Europa Planetary Spatial Data Infrastructure. ) , such as establishing policies, standards, and agreement between data providers that are focused on the needs of a specific community – in this case, those using spatial data collected of the moon.

Vision: The Lunar Spatial Data Infrastructure will facilitate access to spatial information in support of humankind’s exploration of the Moon.

Mission: The Lunar Spatial Data Infrastructure mission is to promote cooperation and development of a Spatial Data Infrastructure that enables discovery, access, interoperability and sharing of Lunar spatial data, while pursuing best data management practices (modeled after the Arctic SDI).

The following guiding principles are used to assess proposed activities and priorities when formulating and communicating the strategy of the Lunar SDI:

• First, do no harm
• Standards for interoperability of data at the global scale are not the same as operational needs for a given mission or project
• Discrepancies between future goals and current capabilities are opportunities for growth and not roadblocks
• The lunar exploration community will grow rapidly, and new viewpoints are welcome